Employment : A pipe-coating facility processing 200 miles of 30- 

 inch pipe (26,400 joints) in eight months might employ up to 200 people. 

 This business has "boom or bust" characteristics so that employment will 

 come in spurts and will vary in size in response to specific orders 

 perhaps dropping to 30 to 40 people in slow periods. Only a small 

 number of supervisory personnel will move into the area; the remaining 

 employees will be local [26]. 



Induced Effects : One study has described a pipe-coating yard as 

 being similar in area and impact to asphalt-paving and construction 

 supply yards of comparable size [21]. Required services at the facility, 

 including water, sewage, solid waste disposal, and protection, will add 

 little in cost to the community. In addition, as only a few employees 

 will be new to the region, residential-related increases in service 

 demands will also be minimal. Unemployment benefits between contracts 

 may be a much more significant expense at the state level. 



The pipe-coating operation results in airborne particulate matter. 

 The stored pipe is unsightly, and an empty barren yard may or may not be 

 an improvement. These factors could adversely affect adjacent coastal 

 property values. This adverse effect might more than offset benefits to 

 the local economy. 



Effects on Living Resources 



A pipe-coating yard has the following characteristics of particular 

 concern to fish and wildlife: (1) water and rail access; (2) large 

 storage area; and (3) water runoff. 



Location : Although a pipe-coating yard could be located at an 

 inland site, it is generally located near a waterway to make use of that 

 transportation mode in handling bulky and heavy pipe lengths. The 

 location also provides immediate access to offshore drilling activities 

 which could only be reached with more difficulty from an inland site. 

 Requirements for a coastal location and a large acreage for storage make 

 the filling of wetlands a distinct possibility. 



Design : To service a pipe-coating yard it is necessary to design 

 navigation channels and possibly a turning basin to accommodate ships 

 and barges. The dredging of new channels or the deepening of existing 

 ones will create turbidity and sedimentation in the water and may lead 

 to the smothering of organisms, such as clams and corals, and to reduced 

 photosynthesis because of the decreased penetration of sunlight. If 

 spoil disposal sites are selected too close to sensitive species' 

 habitats, there may be detrimental effects on indigenous species from 

 the dumping of materials. 



With the need for a large tract of relatively flat land for pipe 

 storage and curing, storage areas should be designed to occupy upland 



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